They're starting to "get it"; tablets represent a major product shift...
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UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-BMO cuts 2011 PC unit growth forecast
9:19 am ET 09/15/2010 - Reuters
* Raises Apple price target to $320 from $315
* Sees 2011 tablet sales over 40 mln units
* Higher tablet sales to hurt graphics, HDD, DRAM markets
Sept 15 (Reuters) - BMO Capital cut its 2011 PC unit forecasts on weaker demand and impact of tablets and virtual desktop infrastructure, and raised its price target and estimates for Apple <AAPL.O> on higher tablet sales.
BMO said it believes tablet sales will top 40 million units in 2011 and would cannibalize notebook and netbook sales. The brokerage cut its traditional PC shipment growth forecast for 2011 to 9.5 percent from its prior estimate of 16 percent.
While tablets have thus far been purchased by consumers, tablets will increasingly grow as a potential client in work environments, including health, government, and educational markets, the brokerage said.
BMO lowered its fiscal 2012 on Dell Inc <DELL.O>, and 2011 forecast on Seagate Technology <STX.O> and Western Digital Corp <WDC.N> on lower assumed PC sales. The recently announced incremental share buybacks will offset the impact of lower PC revenues for Hewlett-Packard <HPQ.N>, BMO added.
For chipmakers, the tablet market offers more headwinds than tailwinds, the brokerage said.
While it sees ARM Holdings <ARM.L> benefiting from the market, it expects dominant PC names such as Intel <INTC.O>, Advanced Micro Devices <AMD.N>, and Marvell Technology <MRVL.O> to face the biggest threat.
The growth in tablets is also likely to hit DRAM memory chip makers, as tablets have lower average memory than notebooks, the brokerage said.
For the list of the research actions, please click on <ReutersLink ID='ID:nWNAB6215' /> or <ReutersLink ID='RCH/US' />. (Reporting by Jennifer Robin Raj in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon) |
